IT Remake Now Dead As Director Fukanaga Departs?

Just when we thought things were starting to run smoothly with the IT remake, we get news that the director left the entire project. We were ecstatic about what True Detective director Cary Fukanaga was planning for his two part big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s IT. Unfortunately, he’s no longer attached to direct it, and it seems like the adaptation that we were all hoping for is no longer going to happen.

The director dropped out of the project over the weekend, and apparently the reason was budget concerns. According to Variety, New Line Cinema changed their minds about the two-part movie and want to condense the story down into one film, which would be a disaster.

Fukanga understands that this story can’t properly be told in only one movie, and because the studio and director couldn’t agree on that or a budget for the film he decided to walk away. He has been developing this adaptation since 2012, King was in full support of his vision for the film, and now that vision is dead.

“The remake of IT may be dead–or undead–but we’ll always have Tim Curry. He’s still floating down in the sewers of Derry.”

The story follows a group of outcast kids who come together over summer break to take on a terrifying clown creature troubling their town, only to face their own personal demons in the process. The first film would have focused on the characters as kids in the story, and the second one would have centered on them as adults.